Sharing a love of Dolls House Miniatures - and making time for other creative crafts and the garden.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

It Was All About The Research

I think I've said before that I really rather relish a spot of research, whether it's for costuming a character or getting the details just right for an accessory. This last week or so, I've been immersed in uinforms of World War 1.

It's always a privilege to be asked to make a character in uniform, and vital to get the details right, be they badges or buckles and belts. So here is my version of a 1914-18 soldier. I've chosen to picture him with some family items from The Great War - a set of binoculars are in the case, alongside Princess Mary's 1914 Christmas Tobacco tin and a medal.

I spent 'forever' dyeing and redyeing the fabric to get as close as possible to the authentic colour and appropriate material for the belt and puttees....and of course different fabrics dye differently.....All strands of the media are giving World War 1 important and respectful coverage which I'm finding very interesting and very poignant, including the miniature publications. Dolls House and Miniature Scene have some great projects and an inspiring competition that is well worth checking out.

More research for the main items in the next picture - a Victorian Water Carrier. It was taken in a bit of a rush on top of a pile of CDs where I'd popped some poppies to dry - but as you can see it's in both 1/12th and 1/24th scales.

The water carrier is one of the accessories in our latest Nostalgia in Miniatures Workshop on April 26th and it's important to us both - Celia Thomas is my partner in the enterprise - that we create entirely original and accurate pieces. The research for this wasn't quite as hard as you might imagine, as many moons ago we owned one. So wish I still had it!! The poppies needed no research at all!

4 comments:

Robin, your soldier is amazing. He choked me up a bit, he's the image of my own grandfather who was a trooper, injured in the battle of The Somme. We have a studio photo of him in uniform, your replica is exactly like.

I dont like war but Im thankful for the men who laid down their lives for our freedoms..that said I appreciate the time you took to honor them and their memory by paying attention to details on his uniform.